If the Boston Celtics want to get out of salary cap jail and dip under the second apron of the luxury tax, they'll need to shed at least $20 million in salary this offseason. That would require trading a core rotation player -- and Jrue Holiday is among the potential options.
While Holiday provides excellent shooting, rock-solid defense and valuable veteran leadership, he's set to make $32.4 million next season on the second year of a four-year, $134.4 million contract. If the Celtics find a willing trade partner for the 34-year-old, they could save a significant amount against the cap while handing a bigger role to reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.
And it sounds like there's at least one team interested in Holiday's services.
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SIGN UP HERE As longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein wrote Monday, the Dallas Mavericks are "expected to at least explore whether there are any feasible trade pathways" to acquiring Holiday, "complicated as that would likely be given the three years and $104 million still left on Holiday's contract."
Stein noted that Charlotte Hornets point guard Lonzo Ball would be a "far more reasonable" trade target for Dallas. But Mavs general manager Nico Harrison just traded a generational talent (Luka Doncic) on the basis that "defense wins championships," so you'd have to think he'd have a strong affinity for Holiday, a two-time NBA champion and six-time NBA All-Defense selection.
What might a Holiday deal look like?
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Our Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg proposed one scenario Tuesday in which the Mavs trade Daniel Gafford ($14.4 million salary for 2025-26) and P.J. Washington ($14.2 million) to match salaries, and a third team gets involved to take on Washington's contract.
"Boston could retain Gafford to stabilize an uncertain frontcourt, while a team with options to absorb salary (perhaps Brooklyn with its cap space or Atlanta with its large trade exceptions) might take on Washington and other filler in exchange for draft assets from both Dallas and Boston," Forsberg wrote.
The Mavs already have two big men ahead of Gafford in Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II, while Dallas' expected addition of projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg makes Washington more expendable. Holiday would give the Mavs a ball-stopping guard who also can run the offense while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL he suffered in March.
Losing Holiday undoubtedly would sting for the Celtics. But with Jayson Tatum expected to miss most or all of the 2025-26 season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, now is a good time for Boston to pursue a "mini reset" by cutting costs while still being positioned to compete for a title in 2026-27.